*Official* England Squad discussion thread

Be interesting to see what the consensus is with regard to England's squad make up.

I'm of the opinion that both Bopara and Shah should definitely be in the squad, if not the final XI, as they're both amongst the best English T20 batsmen around.

Bowling wise, I've no idea who goes - there really isn't much quality outwith the current team set up. Certainly no-one in the domestic competition who demands inclusion based on domestic performances.

Napier's not in the 30, nor's Foster, was just picking my ideal XV. How anyone could possibly believe Chris Woakes, Steven Finn, Sajid Mahmood, David Wainwright, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad, James Tredwell, Peter Trego and Michael Yardy are better T20 cricketers than Graham Napier is beyond me. The incompetence of our selection panel just continues to bemuse me, surely every member of the panel just forgot about Napier and Foster, as if they'd remembered them they'd surely be in the 30 at least. Foster did an excellent job with the gloves in the last T20 WC, but has just been forgotten since then, yet Prior continues to play Limited Overs cricket, it's laughable.

Foster being left out is a joke, absolutely brilliant gloveman and a more than useful batsman to have in the lower order. Plenty of innovative shots and scores quickly. Can turn a match on its head with a brilliant bit of glovework or a series of boundaries late in the innings, not sure what else you want from your keeper in T20.
Wainwright could be useful in the West Indies tbh, pitches are going to be slow so you could see two or three spinners (four if you're Zimbabwe ) bowling in an innings quite regularly. Wainwright has a pretty impressive economy rate as well IIRC.

Squad's been announced. Prior's finally been dropped from Limited Overs cricket, with Kieswetter picked as the only keeper. Michael Yardy gets in the squad, as do Ravi Bopara and Ajmal Shahzad. Interesting to see Ravi get in the squad. Can't say he's done much to deserve getting back in (especially ahead of Jonathan Trott), but I'm not too fussed as I <3 abit of Ravi. So, to confirm the XV is:

Incredible that Jonathan Trott fails to make that side. He made 500 runs in the T20 Cup last year, and although he's struggled in T20's for England he is surely a better option than Ravi? Very strange, seems the selectors don't like the bloke in Limited Overs cricket, despite being one of the best batsmen in England. Still think Napier should be picked ahead of Shahzad too.

Yeah, it's not the worst squad selection we've seen, but there are still a couple of issues. Shahzad simply should not be playing, he's done bugger all for Yorkshire and didn't look particularly impressive for England. Then taking off my Bopara-Tinted Specs, his selection is a poor one. Must be hugely influenced by a few ok innings in the IPL, as he's done sod all apart from that. Trott was easily the best batsman in the domestic competition last year, yet continues to get treated like crap by the selectors. If he was a Durham player, Scaly would probably have exploded.